[Birdtalk] Bird IDing

[Glen Warchol]

As an eternal beginner, I always take rebukes from experienced birders  
with good grace -- sort of like the Zen master whacking the novice  
with a bamboo stick.  I have learned that novices tend to see what  
they seek and it's really the second sighting that counts. That said,  
I'm doomed to always be a chump for a female Red-winged blackbird  
impersonating something really cool.

On Mar 25, 2009, at 9:22 AM, Ronnie Johnson wrote:

> I've had enough trouble with IDs that I've considered the  
> possibility that birding is not the hobby for me.  Feeling Steve's  
> pain, I was pretty bummed about the fact that my sighting of a  
> neotropic cormorant was dismissed but another report with an almost  
> identical bird photo was verified.  Having viewed neotropics about 3  
> days per week when I lived in Arizona, I'm fairly certain when I see  
> one.
>
> Still, if you consider being told when you are wrong (but not why)  
> as a constructive learning experience, then this is a great  
> exchange.  If that doesn't work, you can go the route of choosing  
> what to listen to and what to take with a big grain of salt.  That's  
> my two cents.
>
> 2009/3/24 Steve Coleman <scoleman at utah.gov>
> I have felt the sting of having my bird ID be questioned and while  
> it is painful it has always made me be more observant in the field.  
> Just a couple of weeks ago I reported a Swainson's Hawk in my  
> neighborhood and sent detailed instructions where I saw it because I  
> got many replies questioning a Swainson's in this area this early in  
> the season, but I never saw any reports or received any e-mails from  
> anyone who may have checked it out. People I talked to at DWR tell  
> me that Swainson's Hawks are known to winter over here in Utah  
> however there doesn't seem to be any official documentation of that.
>
> Several years ago I reported a Common Redpoll at one of my feeders,  
> several people came to my house to see it but it never reappeared  
> and they questioned my ID. I began to question my own ID but then  
> within a few weeks Redpolls were being reported all over the Wasatch  
> Front. The biggest find was up in Mantua and many of us went up  
> there and confirmed they were Redpolls. It was a personal  
> reassurance that I hadn't lost my mind.
>
> Having my reports questioned has helped me be a better birder but  
> what has disappointed me a few times is when I report something odd,  
> rare or what seems out of place and get no response what so ever.  
> That makes me feel like those reports are just not taken seriously.  
> Many years ago I was at Kaysville ponds looking at Hooded Mergansers  
> when a really odd duck flew in. I looked over my field guide and  
> found nothing like it, the closest thing to what I was looking at to  
> me was a Black-bellied Whistling Duck. I had been down in Chandler  
> Arizona just a month before and saw several of these ducks down  
> there. While it was the closest thing It still didn't look right to  
> me so I reported it hoping a more experienced birder would go out  
> and check it out. After several days of checking the reports there  
> was no response to my report so I sent another e-mail begging  
> birders to please check out Kaysville ponds. Finally I got a  
> response with a title something like "the Duck is a Goose" it went  
> on to say that the bird was an Orinoco Goose a South American  
> species that was likely an escaped pet. Later though it was reported  
> to be an Egyptian Goose by some others. Though it took some extra  
> encouraging on my part to get someone check out my report I was  
> grateful that someone finally took it seriously and went out and  
> looked. I have added a link of comparisons of the three birds, I saw  
> it several times afterwards and am convinced that it was indeed an  
> Egyptian Goose.
>
> http://picasaweb.google.com/stevecoleman1155/GooseComparisons#
>
> Happy Birding
> Steve
>
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